Ashkelon: Ancient Water Wheel

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This is an ancient water wheel at Ashkelon. It was used to draw water from a well. It was animal driven. The animal would push a beam that was attached to cog wheels, which turned a vertical rope. 

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Clay jars or wooden boxes were attached to the rope, which were lowered into the well. Water flowed through a pipe into a pool, and, eventually, through water canals to irrigate cultivated plots of land. 

A historical marker depicts how the water wheel worked.

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